2019 Stanley Cup Odds Tracked All Season

Track 2019 NHL Championship odds for all 31 teams
See how the odds have ebbed and followed throughout the season, and view teams either individually or compared to others trending in the same direction
The Leafs, Lightning, and Predators are the top 3 Stanley Cup Contenders at the quarter pole of the NHL season

NHL season lasts nearly nine months, but just because there aren’t meaningful games played from July to September, it doesn’t mean your itch to bet on hockey will go unscratched. All year long you can wager on Stanley Cup futures – or, “who is going to eventually win the Stanley Cup,” for those unfamiliar with the term “futures.”

And we’ve got great news: we have been tracking and will continue to track, all 31 NHL teams’ odds to win the Stanley Cup, all year long. The graphs you’ll see below were generated by calculating the average odds for each team from a variety of sportsbooks.

National Hockey League

Top Contenders (December 6th, 2018)

Team	Bovada Odds (12/06/2018)
Toronto Maple Leafs	+385
Tampa Bay Lightning	+385
Nashville Predators	+650
Winnipeg Jets	+1300
Colorado Avalanche	+1300

For the first time since futures bets were available at online sportsbooks, the Toronto Maple Leafs opened the season as the de facto favorites to win the Stanley Cup. Time will tell if they’ll break their 50-year cup drought, but they’re poised for success after landing John Tavares in the offseason. Despite losing Auston Matthews for a month (possibly more) to a shoulder injury, the Nylander-less Maple Leafs kept winning.

With both of them back in the lineup, the Maple Leafs are poised for big-time success. As expected, their odds have shortened at online sportsbooks now that the Nylander situation is sorted out.

Tampa and Nashville are approaching in the rearview mirror quickly, and either team may soon edge them out as oddsmakers’ choice for the cup favorites. Currently, Tampa is tied with Toronto for average odds at online sportsbooks, and Nashville’s odds are a touch longer because of their serious injury issues. These may not get as much fanfare by pundits, but make no mistake, both of these teams are bonafide cup contenders.

After the acquisition of Erik Karlsson only a few weeks before the season, San Jose’s cup odds have dramatically shortened across online sportsbooks. They’ve got a (somewhat) undeserved reputation for being playoff chokers, and they’ll look to rectify that this coming post-season.
The Boston Bruins have a bevy of talented young players to supplement their dynamic veteran offense. Despite running into major injury troubles in the first quarter of the season, they’re doubtless going to contend for the cup come springtime.
The Jets, along with the Toronto Maple Leafs, represent Canada’s best hope for a cup in 2019. They’ve got an army of good players.
The Predators are well-set for another deep run in the playoffs. To be frank, the Predators have no discernable weaknesses on their roster, in any position. All of their injured stars will return well before the playoffs start. If they stay healthy and don’t have any meltdowns in net like they did last spring, its difficult to imagine this team is going to fall short of a Stanley Cup berth, at the bare minimum.

Teams Searching For Their First Cup

Here’s a list of the NHL teams without an etching on the Stanley Cup:

Team	Years in the NHL	Cup Final Appearances	Closest They’ve Come
Vancouver Canucks	48	3	Game 7 Cup Final losses in both 2011 and 1994. No one in Vancouver will ever forget LaFayette’s post or the ensuing riots.
Buffalo Sabres	48	2	Game 6 in 1999. Losing in overtime, no thanks to Brett Hull’s foot in the crease.
San Jose Sharks	27	1	Game 6 in 2016. They’ve never been able to shed their label as chokers.
Nashville Predators	20	1	Game 6 in 2017. Nashville fans still rue the bad call on Sissons’ go-ahead goal.
Ottawa Senators	26	1	Game 5 in 2007. A heartbreaking series for that culminated in the infamous Emery-Phillips mixup.
Vegas Golden Knights	1	1	Game 5 in 2018. Luca Sbisa hands the game to Lars Eller to end the Knights historic run.
St. Louis Blues	52	3	The St. Louis Blues got swept in the finals in three consecutive years, in 1968, 1969, and 1970.
Florida Panthers	25	1	Swept by Colorado in 1996, despite the year of the rat.
Arizona Coyotes	22	0	Lost in 5 games to the LA Kings in 2012. Dustin Brown isn’t admired by Glendale faithful.
Winnipeg Jets	24 (1979-1996, 2011-2018)	0	Defeated by the LA Kings in 5 games in 2018. Canada’s best hope was no match for Ryan Reaves’ heroics.
Minnesota Wild	18	0	Swept in the 2003 Conference Finals. Despite a disappointing playoff history, they did end Patrick Roy’s career in spectacular fashion.
Columbus Blue Jackets	18	0	The Jackets have only won 4 playoff games in their history, 2 in 2014 and 2 in 2018. They probably beat the Caps if not for Lars Eller’s shin, though.

Top Canadian Teams

No Canadian team has won since the Montreal Canadiens in 1993, but 2019 looks like a promising year for the 26-year drought to come to an end.

The Winnipeg Jets ran out of gas against the Vegas Knights in the conference finals this year, but they looked unbeatable for large stretches of the 2018 postseason. With their young guns only trending upwards, we’d give Winnipeg the best chances of ending Canada’s 24-year cup drought.
Toronto isn’t a bad bet either, despite their incredibly short odds. Their defense is suspect, but they’ve got the best collection of top-9 forwards in the league and Andersen has been nothing short of heroic.
The Canucks, Canadiens, and Senators had much better starts than expected, but don’t expect them to contend for the cup this season. The Canadiens look like they’ve got an outside shot at a wildcard spot, but the Canucks and Senators are both struggling mightily.

The Edmonton Oilers look like they need some help. Ryan Strome for Ryan Spooner doesn’t constitute “help.” At the time of writing, they’ve lost six out of their last seven games. They’ve got long-term goaltending issues, their defense isn’t good enough, and McDavid and Draistail can’t score every goal for them. Don’t bet on Edmonton to break Canada’s cup drought.

Team	Stanley Cups	Finals Appearances	Last Championship	Last Finals Appearance
Montreal Canadiens	24	33	1993	1993
Toronto Maple Leafs	13	21	1967	1967
Edmonton Oilers	5	7	1990	2006
Calgary Flames	1	3	1989	2004
Vancouver Canucks	0	2	N/A	2011

Eastern Conference

Metropolitan Division

The Metropolitan Division boats two perennial powerhouses in the east, the Washington Capitals, and the Pittsburgh Penguins. The division boast 3 of the top 4 active playoff performers in the NHL in Ovechkin, Crosby, and Malkin. All three of them have Conn Smythe trophies, to boot.

The Penguins have struggled mightily, and it doesn’t sound like Jim Rutherford is done shaking up his roster after trading speedy winger Carl Hagelin to the Los Angeles Kings in exchange for struggling winner Tanner Pearson. They’re much too talented to be struggling as much as they are, and they currently constitute a great value bet.

Despite losing John Tavares in the offseason, the addition of coach Barry Trotz and Lou Lamoriello has imbued the franchise with some much needed organizational stability. They’ve been better than expected, and will challenge for a wildcard spot this seaosn.

Team	Stanley Cups	Finals Appearances	Last Championship	Last Finals Appearance
Washington Capitals	1	2	2018	2018
Pittsburgh Penguins	5	6	2017	2017
New York Rangers	4	11	1994	2014
New York Islanders	4	5	1983	1984
New Jersey Devils	3	5	2003	2012

Atlantic Division

Outside of the Bruins, Lightning, Leafs, and the surprisingly Sabres, the Atlantic division is almost totally irrelevant in a discussion of potential Stanley Cup Favorites. The Panthers looked to be strong contenders for a playoff berth, but they’re infinitely closer to being first-round cannon fodder than they are to being legitimate contenders. Turns out relying on 41 year Roberto Luongo to stop the puck wasn’t such a good idea, after all.

The Sabres have seen their odds shorten in the early goings of the season, and many pundits predict them to be one of the most improved teams in the league this year. They’re looking like a definite playoff team, but not quite a cup contender.

Team	Stanley Cups	Finals Appearances	Last Championship	Last Finals Appearance
Toronto Maple Leafs	13	21	1967	1967
Boston Bruins	6	19	2011	2013
Tampa Bay Lightning	1	2	2004	2015
Detroit Red Wings	11	24	2008	2009
Montreal Canadiens	24	33	1993	1993

Western Conference

Pacific Division

In the offseason, the Pacific Division didn’t project to be very strong in 2018-2019, with Vegas being the only expected Cup Contender. After the Sharks acquired Erik Karlsson, things changed quickly, and the Sharks became eminently relevant once again.

A team to keep your eye on this season is the Edmonton Oilers. Going into the season, we thought it was unlikely that they’d be able to repeat such an epically disastrous flop of a season again in 2018-2019. Looks like we were wrong!

Vegas’ odds continue to get longer. They’re still a good team, but bookmakers are clueing into the fact that they’re going to have a really difficult time repeating last year’s success. Erik Haula looks like he’s going to be out long-term as well, which further hurts their chances. A repeat Stanley Cup berth isn’t looking likely.

Team	Stanley Cups	Finals Appearances	Last Championship	Last Finals Appearance
Anaheim Ducks	1	2	2007	2007
LA Kings	2	3	2014	2014
San Jose Sharks	0	1	N/A	2016
Vegas Golden Knights	0	1	N/A	2018
Edmonton Oilers	5	7	1990	2006

Central Division

The Central Division boasts a number of strong teams, headlined by powerhouses in Nashville and Winnipeg. It’s a shame only 5 teams from the Central can make the playoffs because all 8 of these teams look like they’ll have a legitimate shot to enter the postseason in 2018-2019.

St. Louis looks, well, bad. They’ve gone 2-5-0 after firing Mike Yeo and replacing him with Craig Berube, looking old, slow, and porous. This isn’t their year.